Is Racism Really Waning?
In a Clutch magazine article, writer Britni Danielle takes on a recent Daily News article by linguist and writer John McWhorter, in which he contends that, while racism persists, it's waning. Danielle argues that, even though we have a black president, and even if systematic racism may be dying, the effects of historical prejudice persist in our so-called postracial world.
A few days ago, John McWhorter -- a linguist and social critic -- penned an essay for the New York Daily News that declared that racism is waning. While McWhorter conceded that racism still exists, he concluded that, with the reelection of President Obama, the influence of racism has dramatically decreased throughout the years.
After President Obama's historic 2008 election, many wondered if we'd finally reached ["post-racial"] America. They wondered if the election of the nation's first black President meant that black folks had finally overcome.
As the media picked up on the post-racial America meme, many African Americans resisted the idea that an Obama presidency meant that racism was a thing of the past. They argued that while a black family occupied the White House, African Americans were still disproportionally affected by poor schools, the prison pipeline, access to health care, and higher unemployment rates.
Read Britni Danielle's entire piece at Clutch magazine.
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